Art Store Adventures

Bailey loves new art supplies.
And cookies held by photographers.

So we had an earthquake... and then we had a hurricane. Needless to say, it's been a week. Luckily yesterday was fairly sunny so we decided to take a trip up to A.C. Moore. We were looking for frames for a few pieces including my cow picture and a print I got from Jessica Swift's Kickstarter project. I also wanted to find some basic linoleum block printing supplies to play with. I came home with none of those things. I just picked up some basics that were on sale. Boo A.C. Moore. They rarely actually have what I want.

I bought this basic Speedball block printing
kit. You can also get it from Blick. 

But it's ok because the story gets better! That is when we re-discovered our lovely neighborhood art store! I was honestly so in love with this store. They had exactly what I wanted plus lots more at reasonable prices. I will no longer be driving 30+ minutes to go to A.C. Moore or Michael's for art supplies. Plaza Art Store is literally a five minute walk and I'm pretty sure they are my new BFFs. That's not creepy right? It was one of those moments where you are like, "uugghhugh, why have I been wasting my time when I could have just walked down the street." Duh.

So needless to say, one of our short term goals is to get a little more screen-printing practice and try out block printing. I think this might be one way I can make cool, hand-made prints to sell/give-away to friends/have just for me. Here's an example of a linocut print I got in Portland earlier this year. I will definitely be sharing as I figure it out! Anyone have any linoleum tips that don't include scrubbing gross stains off 1980's-orange flooring (you could share that too I guess, I'm not picky)?

Pinterest Challenge: Bubble Wrap Mash Up Part 1

I am terrible at waiting for a big reveal. I'm a girl that eats my dessert FIRST. So guess what!? Here's what I made for this week's Pinterest Challenge! Click here to see a bigger/prettier version.


"Quilty People"

 Ok, deep breathe, let me tell you about the inspiration now. We've been looking for a piece of artwork to put in our dining room for at least a year. We are two full-time desk job + grad school students, don't judge. Thank goodness four lady bloggers challenged me to take something I had pinned and make it a reality. Instant motivation!

Source: intellokids.blogspot.com

It all started when I saw this bubble wrap painting pinned by one of the lovely Pinterest Challenge... uh... thrower-downers Sherry from Young House Love. 

I must admit to you, internet, that I am not a bubble-wrap-painting-novice. I, much like the preschoolers on the blog this originally came from, think bubble wrap is an excellent way to create a funky, textural pattern. About a year and a half ago in the midst of the worst snowstorm ever, I made this painting, "Snowpacalypse." Get it?

ANYWAYS, in order to take my inspiration and bubble-wrap painting skills up a notch, I decided to do a mash-up with THIS pin I found last week. 

Source: ffffound.com

Beautiful colors, geometric perfection. The idea to do a mash up was ALSO inspired by another Pinterest Challenge... thrower.... downer, Emily Henderson (OMG OMG OMG). If you are familiar with her show, Secrets From a Stylist, you will know that she takes two people's styles and mashes them up in a glorious new style.

So since this blog post is officially too long (sorry, I'm just feeling so chatty), I'm just going to have to break it up. Stay tuned for part two where I show you how I turned some bubble wrap into a piece of art. Then maybe there will be a part three where I show you my other preschool-paintbrush-substitute: Q-Tips!

What do you think? Will you be trying out the bubble wrap art anytime soon? 

Week 4: Something I Call Personality

Ok, I have a confession. I still don't know what my blog is really about. Yes, it's about design but it's also about me. I said this was going to be a fresh (re)start, but why throw away what I've already built? This blog is personal because it started with my own artwork, my writing and my ideas.

Even before it was a blog, it was this website I designed and coded by hand in HTML and CSS. I want to make sure that history is not lost. I'm never going to be all things to all people like Apartment Therapy, so my artwork and my vision are really my differentiator (sorry for the marketing-speak).

This blog is about me finding my way as an artist, designer, writer and communicator (I had to add that last one... it's what pays the bills after all). I want to share not only my artwork, but also what inspires me and what I'm doing to get my artwork out there (I know someone out there must like it, I mean, other than my mom). I design for fun and mainly for stress relief, but it would be really cool to turn it into something bigger. I just have to figure out how to get there.

Here's a perfect example. My cousin told me I should start a Facebook page. So I did and now I just find it depressing how few fans I have. How can I make this better? Or should I just delete it? (UPDATE: I made the decision to delete it as I'm  streamlining my online presence, ack more marketing terms, sorry) I just don't know. I also have a Flickr page and a Cafe' Press page. Are these helping me at all or are they just out there floating around lost on the internet?

I know I'm going to have to dedicate more time to developing artwork, content, and maybe even a brand. Let's be honest, time management is not my forte' and the majority of my time is sucked up by work, school, boyfriend, dog, friends, family and apartment. I guess that just makes the journey even more interesting.

So, expect more posts like this, sometimes this and hopefully this.